30 to 3 and Back
by cosartmic
Summary: How I think a yogchild story should be written. Xephos mysteriously turns into a child, and Honeydew is left to care for him while Lalna goes on a manhunt for Ridge. Words: 3,781. Tags: Xephos, Honeydew, Yogscast. No pairings really, just friendship.


**30 to 3 and Back**

**©Cosartmic**

***Child! Xephos**

It had been just another normal day at Hole Diggers for the three workers. They had all met at the to-do board, Honeydew had read out the Honey-to-dew list, and they had all gotten to their assigned tasks.

A couple hours into hole digging, Honeydew had begun to feel unwell. He had sensed that something was just not right. Frozen among the task at hand, he mulled on his sudden thought. Had something happened? Was his Dwarf-Radar just having a laugh?

Deciding to shrug it off, Honeydew continued to dig into the rich ores that lay before him. He had no clue as to what kind of ores they were, but they were sparkly and shiny. They called out to the dwarf's mining impulses.

That was when he heard the screaming.

It was a blood-curdling screech that had surprisingly carried itself all the way to Lovely Island.

And Honeydew swore it had been from Xephos.

Honeydew cursed himself mentally for not listening to his Dwarf-Radar, and quickly packed up his supplies. Once streaks of sunlight were again noticeable, Honeydew activated his jetpack and arose through one of the small wedges of the cavern. He aimed himself at Craggy Island and put the jetpack into overdrive, rushing to get to the scene of the crime.

He landed harshly on the dock of the main island, seeing Lalna kneeled down by Xephos' jacket. The jacket looked crumpled and empty. At first Honeydew had assumed that Xephos had disappeared or went AWOL. Slowly, Honeydew crept closer. He then saw that Lalna's face was not concerned, sad, or worried, but frightened. The scientist's face had gone to a new shade of white and his emerald eyes were like saucers.

Honeydew looked at the jacket reluctantly, and saw that there was something moving underneath.

What happened next really surprised him.

The movement became more violent until the jacket fell behind him.

He was an adorable brunette in Xephos' clothes.

No, wait a second.

He was Xephos in Xephos' clothes. And the clothes were quite large on him. He looked to be about 3 years old, and Honeydew thought that he was just the most adorable thing.

Xephos' eyes trailed up the dwarf in front of him, soaking up his big muscular complexion up to the face. He looked Honeydew directly in the eyes with his massive blue eyes.

Honeydew felt his heart melt ever so slightly.

"Honeydew! What the hell is going on?!" Lalna screeched through his teeth, his eyes monitoring little Xephos' every move.

"I don't know, but..."

"But WHAT?"

"He's ADORABLE!" With that, Honeydew scrambled up the kid and held him close in a big hug. Xephos had flinched at Honeydew's high pitched tone, but let it subside. The dwarf's massive beard tickled his face, causing him to squeal and laugh.

Lalna still watched, terrorized. "Yeah, that's nice, but this is still a problem!"

Honeydew brought Xephos' small face up to his so that he could be eye to eye with the little fella. Xephos was giggling still and looked right back into Honeydew's black eyes. The dwarf couldn't help but chuckle and rub his nose against Xephos' own tiny nose.

"HONEYDEW."

Honeydew jumped at the scientist's abrupt outburst of his name. He was forced to pull his attention from the child to the scientist at Lalna's tone.

"Now, now, Lalna. Calm down! Don't look at me! You're the scientist - you should be able to fix something!"

"What the - How are you so calm about this?!"

Honeydew looked from the child version of his best friend, then back to the blonde.

"Well... I mean I guess weirder things have happened with us! Also look at his little face!" He had said the last sentence in a slightly higher pitch of voice. He went back to looking at the tiny spaceman, grinning at him and hugging him a fraction closer.

Lalna frowned and straightened himself out, sighing.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to have to do, Honeydew. I'll probably need to go talk to, like, Ridge or something. He might know. Where to find him is the question..."

"Gonna have to go on a stakeout, are ya?"

"Probably. Yes. Are you going to be alright with Xephos alone?"

It seemed that the dwarf had not heard his question and was too mesmerized by the small spaceman in his arms. It was strange how the petite spaceman seemed all okay and pleased despite the issue. Lalna wondered if Xephos would even remember this.

"Right, I'm going to head off!" Lalna called, having collected enough food and survival gear to leave for a couple days.

Honeydew walked over to meet him, the spaceman in his arms, head resting on the dwarf's big shoulder.

"Okay, Lalna." Honeydew wouldn't admit he was a tad nervous to be left alone with a three year old. It was difficult to remember that the kid was really his friend, just at a younger age.

The scientist studied his now-young friend in the arms of the dwarf. It was strange, how comfortable he was with Honeydew.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone, so are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Honeydew looked at Xephos and noticed that his eyes were closed. He was sure that if Xephos was this comfortable with him, then he shouldn't worry about taking care for the little fella too much.

"I think I'll be okay."

"Okay." Lalna sneaked a glance at the small spaceman, a small smile appearing on his face. Honeydew had been right, he was a cutie.

The scientist and the dwarf said their goodbyes, and Honeydew watched Lalna fly off with his jet pack into the night, the dark sky swallowing him up.

"Well, Xeph'," Honeydew whispered, looking down at Xephos again, "this will be fun, won't it?"

Honeydew had spoken too soon. Sure it had been fun when he was all cute and sleepy, but that all changed when it was 5am and he was suddenly up screaming. The day went on, and Honeydew had been rushing around to find a food that stubborn Xephos wouldn't spit out. His day progressed into trying to entertain Xephos with anything he could find. Some things he did made the kid laugh, but most didn't. Honeydew realized that it was much easier to make the older Xephos laugh. After many failed attempts of entertainment, Honeydew went back to the ones that had made Xephos laugh before (of course they had only been funny once). After he had tried just about everything to make Xephos crack a smile, Honeydew decided that it was useless. He scooped up Xephos, who didn't seem too pleased with this action.

"I guess there's nothing I can to do – aaaAAA!" Honeydew yelped as he felt his ginger pride and joy being yanked from his face. He batted Xephos' hand away from his beard and gave him a dirty look.

"What the hell, Xephos?!"

In a heartbeat Honeydew regretted lashing out on the poor kid. He instantly saw his blue eyes drown in tears he was holding back, and he saw his small bottom lip tremble.

Honeydew quickly sputtered apologies, but he knew it was no use. He braced himself for the waterworks…

But nothing happened. He dared to open an eye, and what he saw surprised him.

Xephos was wide-eyed, almost with terror.

And Honeydew was smelling something foul; literally.

The two looked at each other with the same expression.

"Oh, God… Please don't make me do this."

It was at that time that Honeydew agreed with his guess on Xephos' age. Xephos was definitely in his terrible two's.

Honeydew trudged back from the dock after having scrubbed at his hands fiercely. He was dreading having to enter the shack and face his friend again after what he had been through, what they had both been through. He felt embarrassed, but mostly for Xephos. He wondered if he was going to remember this awkward time.

Honeydew took a deep breath as he neared the shack. He came through the gate hesitantly, closing it quietly. Without a word, he sat beside little Xephos on the middle bed. The tension between them rising, Honeydew sighed and sprawled out on the bed. He watched as Xephos did the same.

"Let's… let's forget that ever happened… alright, buddy?" Honeydew looked over to see Xephos nod.

"Oh, so you do understand me!" Honeydew said, realizing this was the first time he had seen the boy nod in response to him.

Xephos looked over at him and nodded again.

"Don't really say much for a two year old, do you?"

Xephos just watched him. Honeydew stared back for a while, until an idea popped into his head. He sat up quickly and looked over at Xephos excitedly.

"I got an idea for how to entertain you! It's a good one, too!"

The little spaceman sat up, evidentially looking interested in what Honeydew had to say.

"I could tell you a story!" Honeydew was actually quite proud of this idea. He seemed to be good at voices and impressions, and he was sure his over active imagination could conjure up some sort of story.

However, Xephos looked a bit unimpressed with this idea. Honeydew felt like he was giving him a "Seriously?" look. Honeydew frowned.

"Oh, come on! It'll be a good story! I'll make it good. Please?"

Xephos hesitated at first, but then gave a little sigh and nodded. Honeydew was back to smiling after that.

So, Honeydew laid himself up against the pillows of the middle bed. Xephos sat on the bed to the right of Honeydew, sitting on his knees in his oversized blue and white striped shirt. He watched the dwarf carefully, ready to listen.

It took Honeydew a second, but soon he was improvising a story that he was sure fit Xephos' interests. He talked about space and what he thought it was like to live up there. He made his made-up characters live out his wonderings. Some characters had high-pitched voices, while others had very deep and gruff voices. Through the course of his story, Honeydew became more comfortable telling it to his friend when he had noticed the little spaceman smiling and even giggling at points. The dwarf's hope for his story-telling rose when he finished the first story, because once he was finished speaking, Xephos had laughed and clapped. This encouraged Honeydew to move onto another story.

Near the end of the dwarf's second epic tale, Honeydew noticed Xephos yawning and rubbing his eyes occasionally. By the third time Xephos had rubbed his eyes, Honeydew stopped mid-sentence.

"You alright?" Honeydew asked.

Xephos nodded.

"Okay, do you want me to continue?"

Again, he nodded.

As Honeydew continued, he watched Xephos closely. He was slightly amused at his attempt to stay awake. Each time his eyelids dropped, he would open them as wide as he could to keep awake. Honeydew thought this was quite cute.

For Xephos' benefit, Honeydew made sure to finish up his story a bit faster than intended, but still tastefully. By that point, Xephos was completely drained of energy, and from being woken up at 5am, so was Honeydew. Xephos gave Honeydew a sleepy smile. He crawled over to Honeydew and curled up to his side, head on his chest and small hand on his stomach.

"G'nite, Honeydew."

This all surprised Honeydew. Xephos' little voice was just the most precious thing! He felt Xephos' body heat warming him up, and he slowly looked down to see the tiny spaceman already out like a light. Honeydew turned ever so slightly, wrapping his free arm around the small boy and resting his head over top of his. Before he knew what he was doing, he kissed the top of Xephos' head and shut his eyes.

"Night, Xephos." He whispered.

The next couple of days weren't as crazy as the first. Honeydew had grasped the basics and had thought ahead in case of… emergencies. He was just sure he didn't want the same incident that had happened on the first day with Xephos to happen again. As the days went by, Honeydew watched Xephos become more comfortable around him, and Honeydew was beginning to forget why Lalna ever left.

On the fifth day, Honeydew was working on the 'H' again, while Xephos sat up on his shoulders. Honeydew had wanted him to remain on the bottom floor, but Xephos insisted he wanted to be with Honeydew. He promised to hold on to him tightly.

An hour went by before Xephos gasped.

"Xeph'?" Honeydew asked, concerned.

"Look! People!" Xephos yelled, causing Honeydew to cringe slightly, having Xephos directly above him.

Honeydew spun all around until his eyes fell upon two figures flying in from the direction of the docks. Suddenly he remembered it all.

"Who?" Xephos asked.

"Oh… that must be Lalna and Ridge." Honeydew said, slightly dumbfounded. "Hang on tight, Xeph'."

Honeydew flew straight down in front of the gateway into the 'H'. From there, he lifted Xephos off of him and onto the ground. Xephos stepped behind Honeydew's leg and clutched his pant leg. Honeydew waved to the two figures, to which they waved back as they made their way over.

Honeydew looked down to the slightly cowering Xephos and smiled softly. "It'll be okay. Don't worry!"

"Hi, guys!" Honeydew forced a smile. A part of him was depressed that they had arrived.

After they said their hellos, Ridgedog got right down to business and explained the potion he was going to give Xephos. Ridge explained that he would give the potion to Xephos at night, so that overnight he would become his normal self again.

"Will Xephos remember anything that happened?" Honeydew asked.

Ridge thought about this for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, I don't believe so. He will remember the events before the transformation, however."

"Oh…"

Ridge handed him the potion. "Make sure he takes it right before he goes to sleep."

Honeydew nodded, staring at the ground. He barely listened as Lalna thanked Ridge, and Ridge flew off. His head snapped up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." Honeydew gave Lalna a smile, "welcome home, buddy." He gave the scientist's shoulder a few good pats before Lalna went off.

"Honeydew?"

Honeydew had almost forgotten about Xephos. He knelt down so he was face to face with him and gave a small smile.

"You alright?" He asked.

Xephos nodded, then pointed to the potion.

"What's that for?"

Honeydew eyed the potion in his hand for a brief moment before turning back to Xephos. "This… this is for you to… to get bigger." Honeydew struggled.

Xephos observed the potion with careful eyes.

"Don't worry about it now, okay? We'll worry about it tonight." Honeydew picked him up. "Now, what do you want to do?"

"What about the tower?" Xephos asked.

Honeydew smiled. "I can do that another day."

"Off to bed, are you?" Lalna asked, meeting up with the two at the end of the day. Judging by their smiling, flushed faces, Lalna was sure they had done all kinds of things together.

"You two look like you had a productive day." He mused.

"Yep!" Honeydew beamed. Although something seemed a little too out of place with the dwarf's smile.

"I'm going to stay up a bit longer, so good night!" Lalna said, walking off.

"Night, Lalna!"

Now was the hard part.

Honeydew walked into the shack and sat Xephos down, then sat next to him.

"Take potion now?" Xephos asked innocently, looking up to Honeydew with his big eyes. Honeydew reached into his trouser pocket, finding the small vile of potion. He took a deep breath. He got up off the bed and kneeled in front of the three year old so he was face to face with him.

"I'm gonna miss you, buddy…" He admitted. Hanging out with little Xeph' was the most fun he had had in a while.

Xephos had his little eyebrows pulled together in a confused expression. Honeydew couldn't resist smiling even a little.

"We've had a good time, haven't we?" Honeydew asked.

Xephos nodded.

"And… as much as I want to have you stick around, I want my best friend back as well… No matter how much time he spends with me." Honeydew sighed. "And you won't remember this…"

Honeydew suddenly felt a small hand grasp his own. He looked up to see Xephos looking very concerned for him. This only made Honeydew realize he was going to miss him more than he was predicting. Honeydew smiled.

"Aw, come 'ere." Honeydew grabbed Xephos in a signature bear hug. Xephos giggled and hugged back as tight as he could, resting his head on Honeydew's shoulder.

Honeydew tucked Xephos into his bed, and reluctantly brought out the potion again and uncorked it.

"Ready?"

Xephos nodded, and Honeydew handed the vile to him. He drank it up quickly, wiping his mouth with the back of his tiny hands and returned the vile back to the dwarf. Honeydew corked it back up and stuck it in his back pocket. He watched as Xephos yawned and smiled softly.

"Night, Xeph'." Honeydew said, then kissed his forehead.

"Love you, Honeydew... G'nite…"

Honeydew blinked in slight shock, then smiled. Xephos was making this very difficult for him.

"You, too, buddy." He whispered, before removing his armour and crawling into the middle bed.

The next morning Honeydew woke up alone in the three-person bed. This was typical, him being the last to awake. Honeydew forced himself to get up, his mind hanging on the hopes that maybe Xephos would still be three.

But, no. Once Honeydew stepped out of the shack, he saw Lalna talking with a full-grown Xephos. Judging from their expressions, it seemed it was serious. Honeydew did his best to walk over like he wasn't the slightest bit disappointed that Xephos was back to normal.

"Hey, guys!" He greeted.

In unison, the two employees looked over at him. Lalna looked sort of nervous, while Xephos was looking at the dwarf as if he was looking at him for the first time.

"Um- Honeydew! Maybe you can help me explain!" Lalna blurted suddenly, seeming to let his features relax a bit.

"Lalna says a week has gone by and I don't remember anything! I mean actual progress has been made! How did I not see this?!" Honeydew could tell that Xephos was freaking out. His voice was all loud and squeaky.

Honeydew felt like he was being put on the spot. He decided to improvise. "Hey! Just because you don't remember me working doesn't mean that it should be shocking to anybody that a bit of work has been done!" He defended himself.

Xephos let out a shout of frustration. "Now I feel like we're WAY behind schedule!"

"Schedule?! There ain't no schedule! Look, let's just calm down about this and-"

"Honeydew, what happened to me? Why can't I remember the past five days? Lalna says he was gone, so that leaves you to help me. PLEASE." Xephos begged, now sounding a bit too desperate.

Honeydew bit his lip, trying to think up a real good answer. He couldn't possibly tell Xephos that he magically turned into a three year old and that Honeydew took care of him – he'd think he was crazy!

"Um, well, mmm- um…" Honeydew stuttered. "I mean- i-it's not like you… turned into a kid or something..."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Xephos yelled, looking at Honeydew as if he was utterly insane.

Honeydew rolled his eyes. "Look, Xeph', I can't really explain it. And Lalna knows what happened, he's just wanting me to explain!" Honeydew glared at Lalna. That would show him for trying to push all of Xephos' panicking onto the dwarf.

"I have an 'H' to finish, boys, if you'll excuse me." Honeydew quickly flew off without waiting for a reply. Behind him, he heard Xephos trying to force out the truth from Lalna.

Honeydew sat on top of the unfinished 'H', watching as the sun cut through the evening sky. When he heard a jet pack's engine roar and stop near him, he knew exactly who it was.

"Hi, friend." Xephos greeted him calmly.

Honeydew looked over and gave him a quick smile. "Hi."

"May I sit?"

"Please."

Xephos sat a small distance away from his friend. After the silence between them had been dragged out for a few moments, Xephos awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Um, Lalna told me what happened…"

"Yeah…"

"And, um…" The spaceman gave a bit of a nervous laugh. "Well, I guess I could say… thanks."

Honeydew looked over at the spaceman, whose features he could barely make out in the darkness. "For what?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"For, you know… taking care of me…" Xephos explained, his tone a bit lower than before.

"Oh. Um, no problem…"

The silence welcomed itself back into their lives. Xephos broke it once again.

"It explains why I was looking at you in a whole new light this morning, then…"

"How do you mean?" Honeydew asked.

"Well, it's just, you seemed different to me… but, like a good different, you know?"

"Mmm." Honeydew nodded, then he smirked. "Well, you should be looking at me differently. We had a fantastic bloody time, you and I."

"We did?"

"Well, I think so. I think if you remembered you would agree."

"…Huh. Interesting." Xephos pondered for a bit before moving to get up. "Okay, well, anyway… if there's anything I can do to, you know, repay you…"

Honeydew took this opportunity to bug Xephos, just like old times. He scrambled up to face the spaceman in the darkness. He could barely make out his face in the little source of light that was one torch.

"How about a kiss?" Honeydew joked, putting his hands behind his back, closing his eyes and puckering up his lips.

Xephos laughed, although there seemed to be a hint of nervousness that Honeydew could sense.

"There are only so many things I'll do, Honeydew." He said.

"Oh, come on! It's better than me having to see and touch your pernus again!" Honeydew said, hoping he'd get Xephos real good this time.

He watched in the dim light as Xephos' mouth dropped. He could easily picture the spaceman's face going a harsh shade of red.

"_HONEYDEW!"_ Xephos exclaimed in his high-pitched voice again. Honeydew doubled over in hysterics.

And to add on to his teasing, he could hear Lalna laughing quite loudly from the bottom floor.Honey


End file.
